#UWWAwards2022

Amouzad, Elor, Nazaryan Tabbed as UWW's Rising Stars of 2022

By Eric Olanowski

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 22) -- Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI), Amit ELOR (USA) and Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) had outstanding results in 2022 and have been named United World Wrestling’s Rising Stars of the Year.

Amouzad, at just 20 years old, won golds at the Asian and World Championships this season and scored incredible 2022 wins over veterans Bajrang PUNIA & Haji ALIYEV (AZE), before closing out his near-perfect World Championships with a win over Yianni Diakomihalis (USA) in the final to capture the 65kg gold.

Elor had a phenomenal season, becoming the first American to win three world titles in a single season.

The 19-year-old won U20 world gold in August and a senior-level world title in September, before capping off a historic year with a U23 world title in October, joining a rare list of wrestlers who won gold medals at every World Championships.

In Greco-Roman, Nazaryan extended his family tradition of excelling on the big stage.

Just 20 years old, the Bulgarian reached the European and World Championships finals this year and made it clear that he is ready for the big stage at such a young age.

His runs include wins over Olympic silver Kenchiro FUMITA (JPN), and European foes Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) and Erik TORBA (HUN).

While he fell short of crossing the final hurdle at both tournaments, Nazaryan has put his name in the hat at 60kg for the coming future.

#WrestleZagreb

WATCH: Helen Maroulis, the comeback queen

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (November 17) — Helen MAROULIS (USA), who last won gold at World Championships in 2021, came to Zagreb as one of the favorites to win gold at 57kg.

However, the 2016 Olympic champion wasn’t the favorite.

WATCH: Helen Maroulis, the comeback queen

Maroulis reached the final in Zagreb at 57kg rather easily. Facing Il Sim SON (PRK) in the final, Maroulis was down 2-1 and needed a magic move for a win.

With barely 10 seconds remaining in the final, Maroulis hit a trip to get a takedown and win the final 3-2, claiming her fourth world title.

The win marked a crucial point in Maroulis’ career as she had thought of calling it time on her career but decided to return at the Budapest Ranking Series in July and became a world champion in September.